Milnrow & Newhey June 2019

It’s Been a Hard
Day’s Night!
By Councillor Shaun O’Neill.
You would be forgiven if you had
thought this story was about to lead
into another discussion on Brexit.
Fortunately you would be wrong.
A recent news item has reported the
discovery of, in Mexico, a reel of film
footage depicting the first ever live showing
of the Beatles on ‘Top of the Pops’. Which
got me thinking about Rochdale’s connection with the ‘Fab Four’
and various other artists.
‘Town Meadows‘, now home of the Police Station, was once the
site of the Circus and Hippodrome Theatre, the venue for popular
music hall and circus acts of the nineteenth century. Years after the
demise of the Theatre, Beatles’ song writer, John Lennon, spotted
a poster in a second hand shop, from 1843. The Pablo Fanque
Circus Royal poster was the basis of the song ‘For the Benefit of Mr
Kite’ which is featured on
the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’
album. It is rumoured that
the original poster is in the possession of Yoko
Ono and is possibly the only one still left in
existence. So check your lofts- if you find one it
might be worth a few quid.
Walking towards the Old Post Office, past the
Cenotaph, if you glance to your left across the
well manicured (whispering) grass lawns, you’ll
see the ‘Town Flats’ where Don Estelle off ‘It Ain’t
Half Hot Mum’ and Bill Oddie’s (The Goodies)
Mum both once lived.
A bit further on, after the Town Hall on your right,
you will see ‘Our Gracie’ who was recently
described as the ‘Madonna’ of her time.
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